friday

good morning,
we had an event on saturday. we had a mass celebration for a very special person. my mother in law passed away on tuesday. we did not always see eye to eye but she taught me many things in the 44 years i knew her. cooking. she was a fantastic cook and taught me a lot. no one could make potato salad the way grandma did. there were many times over the last few years we did not think she would be with us for long but she was like the energizer bunny she just kept going and going. she loved her gardens especially the hosta. the rose,in the picture was from the service. it is beautiful. she is not longer suffering and that is a blessing.

yesterday

i worked on santa pincushions and 2 christmas stockings.

festival of tables

what a great bunch of tables we had this year.
i have posted the pictures to my webshots pages. this picture was mine.
http://community.webshots.com/user/nana5111

cake plates

made from glass plates and chunky candle holders.i will fill them with baked goods or candles for christmas gifts. good for the vet or pastor etc.

44 years

good morning,
i thought i would share my flowers.
in 44 years my husband has not missed giving me roses on our anniversary, the 14th of nov.. i was in the floral business for a lot of years and even then he gave me roses. it is good for a florist to receive flowers.
bless his heart. he's a keeper.

ufo's

i have 7 dolls that i put the messy mix on yesterday. they will need sanding then another couple of coats of the mix and more sanding. then gesso and sanding.
then i get to do the fun part. giving them faces.
it is a cold dreary day.we are lucky so far and it is just rain. north of us it is freezing raining and snow. seems early for this but it is Iowa and it is close to winter. back in 1964 the weather was beautiful in the 60's and higher. i remember because i was married on the 14th of Nov. 1964 and for years that day held the record high for the date. we moved into this house on the 14th of November 1970.
how did so many years pass so fast?

repair

when you take a close up picture and post it to the pc you can see what needs to be repaired.there was a spot in the left eye and the line above the eye that needed repair.
she now can dry and i can dress her in a few days.

on to the 2nd doll

well since marcella needs time to dry i dug out another ufo. no name yet. she is a doll made from my same pattern as marcella only i added a paper clay face.
i have a basket of dolls i need to finish.some need sanded then gessoed.
some need the messy mix. i need to stay focused on these dolls.
this girls went through the flood and got dropped on her head.she did not break but had a crack that had to be repaired on the back of her head.she had been base painted. i finished her today. feels good.i will work on her clothes after she drys.

poor marcella

this morning when i went back to paint marcella i noticed a small dark mark just above her right eye.
i used my eraser to wipe off the paint to see what it was. oh my poor thing.i learned a lesson today.
always use the messy mix on every doll. the most important thing for me in doing a face is drawing exactly what i want before i paint. so i do a lot of erasing with a soft white eraser.
it works well but this time i erased to often and softened the gesso.i am glad to find out and did not just leave it. the face would have cracked for sure eventually and if i had sold her that would have been a disaster.
so her beautiful face will get sanded off and redone. she may even have a different name when she finally gets a face. and it was going so well.

marcella june

what a difference just a little movement makes.enough for tonight.
i will start again tomorrow.

marcella june

oh my--- i started painting a new doll. well actually she has been waiting for a face for a long time.
the nose is a bit to small and the mouth is to close to the nose.
having a picture on the pc makes it mush easier to see what needs to be changed.
i love oil painting dolls.the paint moves so well.

the cousins

we went to a 60th birthday party last night. the rain was freezing on the windshield but not on the roads thank goodness.
the party was for dh's first cousin diane.

pin cushion

i have started a new pincushion.it was inspired by one i saw on the crazy about pincushions list.
mine is made of wool, tapestry and linen. i am using the needles n thread tutorials to learn the stitches. thanks needles n thread. the beading does not show up it is on the stripe of lace it looks good in person. there are so many pin cushions i want to make and dolls to paint. i don't seem to get much done these days except housework,laundry, cooking and dishes.
i need to get busy on Christmas presents. with the tight economy i want to make as many gifts as i can.

emma my columbian wanabe

i made emma a year ago and love her still.
here she is dressed in her witches outfit.

columbian and a girl

columbian and a girl

someplace on the internet i found this picture.
it is old so i think it is ok to post it without copy right infringement.
i love the doll so much.
what an inspiration emma adams is to me and so may others.
helen pringle is my modern day inspiration.

fall decorations.

i have done some decorating on the porch.soon it will be time to put out the Christmas decorations.

first winter snow

we woke up to our first snow. hopefully it will be gone later today. we still have yard work to do.

pumpkin head doll

i have not made a doll in a long time and decided to do an on line challenge from one of my yahoo lists.she was fun and turned out cute.
the rabbit she is sitting on was a gift for our 20th anniversary.
we will celebrate our 44th on the 14th of this month. does not seem possible.

collecting for the festival

I love to stop at 2nd hand stores.I found several pieces in the last few weeks that just complete the table settings.The amber water /iced tea glasses and silverware were given to me through freecycle.org.
They are perfect.
I found a amber relish tray and candle holders at goodwill. Also perfect.
The dishes are from Hobby Lobby.It took 2 years to get the whole set i wanted.All at !/2 price.
I collect pumpkin things and have looked for a set of dishes with pumpkins on them for a long time.
The sheet was on sale as were the 2 table runners and the napkins.Yipee for me it all cost less than $10.00 for all.

the festival of tables

Well it is the time of year our local library has a fund raiser.They host a festival of tables.This year it will be Nov. 14th and 15th.
I did a practice set up today. My theme is A Pumpkin Fest.
The sheet I am using for an under table cloth needs to be pressed so just don't pay any attention to that. My pumpkin dishes are new. The rest is a mix and match of new and vintage.There are a lot of pieces to put on a 6 ft. table. It is not round like mine here at home. I think it will be a really fun table to do.
I went on line to see how i wanted to fold the napkins.The hat/crown style worked well. The spreader that has a pumpkin on the handle fits right into the little pocket the fold makes.